The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, though this does not imply an endorsement.

THEAPOLLO PROGRAM AND THE FLAT EARTHERS (Friday Church News Notes, July 26, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Flat earthers must be in tizzy-fit mode these days with the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 11, the first moon landing, which occurred on July 20, 1969. America’s Apollo program was one of the most amazing achievements of human history, if not the most. Noah built a massive ship to save mankind and the animal kingdom from the global flood, and he did it without the help of tens of thousands of engineers, but Apollo took men off of the face of this earth and transported them to the moon. Men walked on the moon! There is no doubt. They photographed our globe. The Blue Marble photo taken on December 7, 1972, by the crew of Apollo 17 is not a myth. There were 500 eyewitnesses of Christ’s resurrection, which is evidence that would stand up in any honest court. There were 400,000 participants in Apollo. I was a personal friend with one of them. Since Apollo, the earth as a globe has been photographed countless times by space machines, not only American, but Russian, European, Indian, Chinese, and Israeli, not only satellites circling the earth, but satellites traveling to far-flung realms of our galaxy. A photo of our globe was taken by Elon Musk’s SpaceX solar orbit spacecraft (a cherry red Tesla roadster “driven” by the dummy Starman) in February and another by Israel’s Beresheet moon spacecraft in March. Other than confirming the fact that the earth is a globe, which ancient men already knew, what does the modern space program mean? It means that man is made in the image of God and is distinct from the animal kingdom just as the book of Genesis says. Though man looks a bit like the apes, in fact, he is really nothing like the apes. Apes can figure out how to use sticks to hit one another, but they aren’t very good at rocket science. The modern space program also means that Daniel’s prophecy of the end times is true that says, “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Da. 12:4). Finally, the modern space program means that “the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (James 5:8)! Though we know not the day nor the hour, we can see the day approaching (Hebrews 10:25). By God’s grace, we will continue to watch and serve.

NEIL ARMSTRONG WAS THRILLED TO WALK WHERE JESUS WALKED (Friday Church News Notes, July 26, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died in 2012 at age 82. An astronaut, aerospace engineer, Navy fighter pilot (who flew 78 combat missions over North Korea), and university professor, Armstrong was famous as a man of few words, yet he uttered some of history’s most memorable ones. When he first stepped on the moon, he exclaimed, “This is one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” He said something else that was memorable, and I am reminded of it on every trip to Israel. Not long after the Apollo 11 moon landing, Armstrong visited Jerusalem and was guided by archaeologist Meir Ben-Dov, one of the excavators of the southern Temple Mount. Armstrong asked him to point out a place where Jesus would have walked, and Ben-Dov took him to the Huldah Gates and showed him the recently excavated southern steps. Armstrong asked if these were the original steps, and Ben-Dov replied, “Yes.” Armstrong said, “So Jesus stepped right here?” and Ben-Dov again confirmed it. To this, Armstrong said, “I have to tell you. I am more excited stepping on these stones than I was stepping on the moon.” This account is part of Israel’s official two-year training program for guides, and it also appears in From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman.

JUDGE SHOULD BE GUILTY OF MURDER (Friday Church News Notes, July 26, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Last week, 77-year-old Albert Flick was convicted of the murder of Kimberly Dobbie in 2018. It took the jury all of 40 minutes to convict the man. He should not have been free. In 1979, he was convicted of murdering his wife by stabbing her more than a dozen times in front of her daughter, but he was sentenced to only 25 years. In 2010, he was convicted of assaulting another woman, but the judge ignored the wise recommendation of the prosecutor for a long sentence because of his murderous history and proven character. The judge reasoned that the man wouldn’t be a threat because of his age, which would be 72 at the time of his release, and it didn’t make sense to keep him in prison. The old coot was out of prison again in 2014, and four years later he stabbed 48-year-old Kimberly to death because she would not accept his romantic overtures. She was trying to leave town. The homeless mother, who sadly had no man to protect her, was stabbed at least 11 times in front her 11-year-old twin sons. These judges should be charged with a crime for releasing a vile murderer to the public. If the previous judge had listened to the Son of God, who is incarnate infinite wisdom, he would have understood that murder is not an age issue; it is a heart issue. Of course, they don’t teach that in American law schools any more. Age does not quench evil thoughts. Only the blood of Christ can purify the heart (Acts 15:9; 1 Peter 1:22). “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:All these evil things come from within, and defile the man” (Mark 7:20-23).

BEAUTY QUEEN LOSES CROWN AT THE HANDS OF THE SPEECH MAFIA FOR HER CONSERVATIVE VIEWS (Friday Church News Notes, July 26, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Daily Wire reports, “Twenty-year-old conservative activist and prominent Trump supporter Kathy Zhu was reportedly stripped of her Miss Michigan crown from the Miss World America Organization over past ‘insensitive’ social media posts and her refusal to try on a hijab at a college event in 2018. Zhu is a Chinese immigrant who moved to the United States at age five; she became popular in conservative circles for her support for Donald Trump during the 2016 election and for fighting off students attempting to get her expelled from the University of Central Florida for refusing to try on a hijab ... Zhu was named as an Indiana and Michigan 2019 national finalist earlier this week in a bid to move on to the Miss Teen World America preliminary and finals set for October. ... However, the student was soon informed by the organization via email that she would have to turn in her sash and crown and disassociate with the group over past ‘offensive, insensitive, and inappropriate’ social media posts. ‘Miss World America’s State/National/Chief Director accused me of being racist, Islamophobic, and insensitive,’ Zhu wrote in a post via Twitter, captioning screenshots of an email exchange between her and Miss World America. ‘They stripped me of my Miss Michigan title due to my refusal to try on a hijab in 2018, my tweet about black on black gun violence, and ‘insensitive’ statistical tweets.’ ... Responding to Laurie DeJack, [Miss World America Michigan State Director] Zhu wrote via text, ‘How is that racist? It’s statistics. Didn’t know statistics were racist’” (“Miss World America Strips Trump Supporter of Title,” Daily Wire, July 19, 2019). POSTSCRIPT: In the midst of the wholesale assault on freedom of religion and speech, we keep our focus on Jesus Christ and His business. While we don’t support modern beauty contests because of the immodest attire, among other things, the Kathy Zhu story reminds us of the All Persia Beauty Contest about 2,500 years ago in one of the largest, most powerful empires of history. In fact, it seemed invincible until Alexander the Great came blazing in from the west. But one hundred thirty years before Alexander’s birth, history’s greatest beauty contest was held. It was the search for the emperor’s new queen. Here was the plan: “Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king: And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege the king’s chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given them: And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so” (Esther 2:2-4). The efficient royal messengers fanned out across the kingdom on horses, donkeys, mules, and camels, from the Indus Valley to Ionia, from the Caucasian Mountains to Egypt and northern Africa. They searched among the Lycians, the Lydians, the Phrygians, the Thracians, the Syrians, the Cilicians, the Phoenicians, the Mesopotamians, the Medians, the Caspians, the Bactrians, the Armenians, the Parthians, the Sogdians, the Ethiopians, and others. The young Jewish woman Esther won the contest and the king’s heart because she was God’s chosen instrument in saving the Jews at that time and place. The same God who was in control of events then, yet is not even mentioned in the book of Esther, is still in control today, and His people are still in His hands.

BEE COLOGNE (Friday Church News Notes, July 26, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from Creation Moments, July 2, 2019: “Imagine being in a party that’s all packed into one room and everyone is talking. Under these conditions it’s often difficult to hear, or at least, understand what others around you are saying. Now imagine that all of these people look nearly identical. None has any noticeable distinguishing features that make him different from anyone else in the room. Now, to make matters worse, you have been informed that you are to find the person in the room who was not invited to the party. That’s the impossible situation that honeybees constantly face. However, the noisy room I have just described is noisy in two ways. Bees not only communicate through sound. They also use scents to communicate. And the hive is full of scents. Yet honeybees are constantly alert to bees who are not members of the hive. Invaders are killed. How can bees so successfully protect the hive? Entomologists have discovered that members of a hive all carry the same chemical password. The scent must be very distinctive because the hive is filled with smells. It also seems that all honeybees may use a specific combination and subtle variations of only two chemicals. Yet each hive can instantly tell whether another bee carries the specific chemical password. The complexity of this avenue of beehive defense shows not only a wise and powerful Creator. It also shows us that He cares for what He has created. He cares for You, too. Learn more about the specific details of His love for You in the Bible. Ref. Pennisi. E. ‘Bees use Chemical Passwords to Show Kinship,’ Science News, July 4, 1992.”

CONCLUSION: The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:11-14).

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Distributed by Way of Life Literature., publisher of Bible Study Materials and reports for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Established in 1974, Way of Life Literature is a fundamental Baptist preaching and publishing ministry based in Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. Brother Cloud lives in South Asia where he has been a church planting missionary since 1979. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY (REPORTS AND FRIDAY NEWS) IS NOT DEVOTIONAL. IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR.David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.orgThe Way of Life Literature preaching and publishing ministry is based at Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. A mail stop is maintained in Port Huron, Michigan.

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